[518141]

I love Audeze bass. It is just a shame the 24 is not really available for audition...

Yes...
...but even when they are available in germany, I would bet that they are super expensive. The empyrean is in this price point without competition. I like Audeze and one of my next purchase is the lcdi3. It´s such a unique headphone. I love the technical base.

 

[betula]

Yes...
...but even when they are available in germany, I would bet that they are super expensive. The empyrean is in this price point without competition. I like Audeze and one of my next purchase is the lcdi3. It´s such a unique headphone. I love the technical base.

I love Audeze bass too. There is nothing to compare. That said I chose to buy the Empyrean vs the LCD4. The Empy just has more airy and lifelike mids, vocals and treble while the bass is very close to the LCD4. Comfort, weight, price difference is much better on the Meze flagship..
I reached out to Audeze to see if I could audition the LCD24 at all. Let's see what happens.

 

[mixman]

My head is fortunately middle size. Most headphones fits me.



1. Probable no.
2. Probable closer to lcd4.
3. Probable less than lcd4 and 4z.

Seriously, it´s a planar magnetic driver without distortion. You can eq`d the bass maybe up to 4-6 db no problem. I think after the first impressions of alexzogh nobody has to worry about the bass quality of lcd24. It´s a audeze headphone. Bass is one of their trademarks.

The thing is if the 24 is just a little brighter, slightly better soundstage, does that offset the the 4/4z best aspect......it’s impactful and detailed bass? It’s seems like the the 24 does have the bass detail, but does it have that same impact as the 4/4z? I do not want a sort of wimpy sounding 4/4z.

 

[mixman]

I love Audeze bass too. There is nothing to compare. That said I chose to buy the Empyrean vs the LCD4. The Empy just has more airy and lifelike mids, vocals and treble while the bass is very close to the LCD4. Comfort, weight, price difference is much better on the Meze flagship..
I reached out to Audeze to see if I could audition the LCD24 at all. Let's see what happens.

For me if the 24 has better air, better soundstage with a more neutral tonal balance and keeps the 4/4z slamming bass then it sounds like a true Empyrean competitor.

 

[alexzogh]

How big is your head? It may sound strange, but I just want to know if the high clamping force of lcd24 is general a problem. I like that you`ve described your impressions with real music examples and not just interpreted measurements like other does.

What guy doesn`t like broccoli and even girls?
It´s the fat metal571.
Famous german humour.

Since I'm a motorcycle rider, I can tell you my head circumference exactly - it's 60cm, which is a hat size 8. At the top of "large", or bottom of "xlarge" for most hats and helmets. Bigger then average (which is medium), but not quite a melon :>

 

[alexzogh]

Does the 24 have the bass impact of either the Empyrean or the LCD 4? It's the bass impact and especially detail that I like most about the 4, even though I am much prefer the tonal balance of the Empyrean to that of the 4. Where does the 24 fit, especially in the lower registers, between these two?

Does the 24 provide the bass impact of the LCD4 and Empy?
When it comes down to bass clarity is it closer to LCD4 or Empy?

Where is bass impact of the 24 versus 4 or 4z or Empy? And bass detail?

And upper-mid/treble openness/naturalness where is it compared to the mentioned flagships?

The thing is if the 24 is just a little brighter, slightly better soundstage, does that offset the the 4/4z best aspect......it’s impactful and detailed bass? It’s seems like the the 24 does have the bass detail, but does it have that same impact as the 4/4z? I do not want a sort of wimpy sounding 4/4z.

For me if the 24 has better air, better soundstage with a more neutral tonal balance and keeps the 4/4z slamming bass then it sounds like a true Empyrean competitor.

Now a couple of weeks in, the 24 has the upper register airiness of the Empyrean - they are comparable..... the lower register detail of the 4's, with a small, but noticeable reduction in the "bass slam" , yet still superior in the lower registers in both detail and impact than the Empyreans.

 

[518141]

Now a couple of weeks in .... yet still superior in the lower registers in both detail and impact than the Empyreans.

This surprises me slightly because my impressions from my audition with lcd4 vs empyrean was that in terms of bass punch both headphones almost equal were. But my audition wasn`t even 2 hours, so take it with a grain of salt. After I´ve auditioned both I started a research.
Maybe my impressions were clouded because the tuning of the empyrean is different to the lcd4. Lcd4 have a almost flat and neutral tuning in the bass, you can see this in every measurement but the emyrean has in contrast a slightly lifted midbass what I obviously quite like.

 

[mixman]

Now a couple of weeks in, the 24 has the upper register airiness of the Empyrean - they are comparable..... the lower register detail of the 4's, with a small, but noticeable reduction in the "bass slam" , yet still superior in the lower registers in both detail and impact than the Empyreans.

Having heard both the 4/4z, I have to agree with Kopf, that in terms of quantity the 4/4z and the Empyrean seem on par. It’s on bass detail where the 4/4z easily pull ahead of the Empyrean, since at times the Empyrean gets a little too dense in it’s upper and mid bass. Now if you are saying the 24 has less bass quantity than the 4, it would seem to me to have less bass quantity than the Empyrean also and sound a little thinner in the mid bass region. Possible?

Don’t mean to question you too much on this but there are only a few people with the 24 and so far the few impressions we have are mixed, with have me leaning back to getting a 4z and not the 24.

Also, as of now, which do you prefer the 4 or 24 and why?

 

[518141]

...I do not want a sort of wimpy sounding 4/4z.

You are very ambitious but I think I could understand you. You have great expectations because you have already a nice collection of headphones. I do not want a sort of wimpy sounding lcd 4 too. I have to admit that I have to google the word "wimpy", never heard it before. Unfortunately my english is not perfect.
Audeze placed the lcd24 right between the lcd4/4z and the mx4. It´s just a different beast. They reduced the weight and changes the magnetic structure, so far so good.

Edit to my post#69: Most bass notes are between 60hz-160hz in the middle bass and not in the sub bass. There are not much instruments which reaches down below 20hz-40hz. If you want a punchy headphone than you have to raise the midbass.

 

[metal571]

4Z vs 4 is more stark than I thought. Staging and detail take a really noticeable hit. After listening to the 4 for a while and switching to the 4Z, the difference is painful to listen to. Amazing that they're both 4 grand. 24 is much worse than the 4Z. A lot more grain and etch in the treble. Honestly no idea what they were thinking, and those got hyped up a ton. Maybe they initially were using the 4 driver, now it's the 4Z driver with LCD2 magnets with more space between each individual magnet. I ended up liking my 2018 LCD2F more than the 24, lol. Not kidding.

 

[betula]

4Z vs 4 is more stark than I thought. Staging and detail take a really noticeable hit. After listening to the 4 for a while and switching to the 4Z, the difference is painful to listen to. Amazing that they're both 4 grand. 24 is much worse than the 4Z. A lot more grain and etch in the treble. Honestly no idea what they were thinking, and those got hyped up a ton. Maybe they initially were usin the 4 driver, now it's the 4Z driver with LCD2 magnets. I ended up liking my 2918 LCD2F more than the 24, lol. Not kidding.

Good to see you on the forums Metal. You are one picky dude with all you EQ-ing and not liking anything at their default tuning. Is there an LCD24 review coming out soon? How would you compare them to the Empyreans?

 

[metal571]

I've decided that I'm going to stop doing reviews of stuff I don't like at all for the most part because I just don't feel like having to deal with a million comments going U WRONG BRO for the next week after it. Instead if someone asks me about something I've heard and it was bad I'd rather just address that in the Q/As now. I never compared 24 or 4Z directly to Empyrean but as I said in the Empy review, Empyrean is by no means on the same detail level as LCD4. So that would put it closer to maybe 4Z level, which is a headphone that easily out resolves the 24. So maybe that gives you a better idea. Empyrean is a $1500 sounding headphone in a $6000 chassis, is how I like to put it.

For anyone doubting my impressions on the 24, Audeze actually sent me 2 units (you can see them on Bloom Audio's Instagram) and both sounded equally bad. lol

 

[betula]

I've decided that I'm going to stop doing reviews of stuff I don't like at all for the most part because I just don't feel like having to deal with a million comments going U WRONG BRO for the next week after it. Instead if someone asks me about something I've heard and it was bad I'd rather just address that in the Q/As now. I never compared 24 or 4Z directly to Empyrean but as I said in the Empy review, Empyrean is by no means on the same detail level as LCD4. So that would put it closer to maybe 4Z level, which is a headphone that easily out resolves the 24. So maybe that gives you a better idea. Empyrean is a $1500 sounding headphone in a $6000 chassis, is how I like to put it.

For anyone doubting my impressions on the 24, Audeze actually sent me 2 units (you can see them on Bloom Audio's Instagram) and both sounded equally bad. lol

Ok, so you are not an LCD24 fan and you value the sound of the Empyrean at 1.5K which is just above Clear retail price... IMO the Empyrean is classes above the Clear.

So in your opinion regarding resolving capabilities the line would be: LCD4>LCD4Z>Empyrean>LCD24?

That is a pretty poor opinion on the 24s.
I agree that the LCD4 is more resolving than the Empyrean, especially in bass detail but the Empyrean especially with silver cable has more spacious and more lifelike mids and treble.
I also think a lot depends on the gear. From CMA600i and Qutest with stock cable the Empyrean was enjoyable, but not as clear as I wanted/expected. From TT2 with silver cable all the clarity is there with spades...

 

[mixman]

4Z vs 4 is more stark than I thought. Staging and detail take a really noticeable hit. After listening to the 4 for a while and switching to the 4Z, the difference is painful to listen to. Amazing that they're both 4 grand. 24 is much worse than the 4Z. A lot more grain and etch in the treble. Honestly no idea what they were thinking, and those got hyped up a ton. Maybe they initially were using the 4 driver, now it's the 4Z driver with LCD2 magnets with more space between each individual magnet. I ended up liking my 2018 LCD2F more than the 24, lol. Not kidding.

Gotta admit, for me, it's the 4z or 24 not the 4, if I ever buy another Audeze. The 4 is too heavy, too hard to drive and more difficult to get rid of if you need to sell. Before I would consider the 4, I would just stick with the Empy, which I think has one of the best tonal balances out there, even better than the Verite, but I do like the Verite same, well maybe more with my new Zircote. This is especially true since I do not EQ.

Also could you give a little more detail, bass, mid and treble as why you didn't like the 24?

 

[metal571]

Gotta admit, for me, it's the 4z or 24 not the 4, if I ever buy another Audeze. The 4 is too heavy, too hard to drive and more difficult to get rid of if you need to sell. Before I would consider the 4, I would just stick with the Empy, which I think has one of the best tonal balances out there, even better than the Verite, but I do like the Verite same, well maybe more with my new Zircote. This is especially true since I do not EQ.

Also could you give a little more detail, bass, mid and treble as why you didn't like the 24?

It's not even the tuning of the 24 so much as detail, which is really lacking in the highs. They're all smeared and there's an annoying 7k ish peak. Mids and bass are fine in tuning and similar to 4Z, but this is a $3500 headphone we're talking about here. I expect it to compete close to 4Z and 4 level on detail and it just doesn't. I'm positive about this and really was quite shocked when I received the 2 review units of the 24 from Audeze. I guess you'll have to decide for yourself next CanJam.

And yeah, totally agree that the 4 is way too heavy for most people. They need to offer the 4Z magnesium chassis option for the full 4. I'm still scratching my head as to why the 4Z had to be made more efficient and compromised on resolution. If you're spending that kind of money, I'd think the customer already has a powerful amp.